And here is the loving headline from Rasmussen Reports: As Campaign Season Begins, Only One Presidential Candidate is Viewed Favorably by Majority of Voters."

he Arizona Senator is now viewed favorably by 53% of all voters (a total boosted by the fact that 56% of those not affiliated with the major parties have a positive opinion of him. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of voters nationwide have an unfavorable opinion of him. Last summer, following the Senate debate on immigration, McCain’s stock had sunk so low that he was viewed favorably by fewer than half the voters in his home state. But, he has recovered in the latest Arizona polling as well as nationally.

John Edwards is viewed favorably by 49%, unfavorably by 42% and Hillary Clinton is the only other candidate with favorables about 43%. She is viewed favorably by 48% of all voters and unfavorably by 50%. Attitudes about the former First Lady are held more firmly than those for other candidates.

Barack Obama earns favorable reviews from 43%, Fred Thompson from 42%, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani from 40%. Mitt Romney has the lowest total at 38%. Fifty-one percent (51%) have an unfavorable opinion of the former Massachusetts Governor. That unfavorable rating is matched by Obama and topped only by Giuliani at 55%.

Of course, entering the Primary season, it may be that opinions within the partisan ranks matter more than the overall numbers. McCain is viewed favorably by 66% of Republican voters nationwide, Thompson and Giuliani are viewed favorably by 65%, Romney by 57%, and Huckabee by 55%.

Among Democrats, Clinton is viewed favorably by 80% of Democratic voters, Edwards by 66%, and Obama by 61%.

From: Surveys of 800 Likely Voters
December 26-27 & December 28-29, 2007

Wish I were in Iowa today to watch. As most of ya'll know, I'm a California voter for the past 18 years. If you want to watch today's primary from the inside, I recommend:

And My Choice Is....
Well, the Iowa Caucus will begin in just under 48 hours. And it has taken me up until this, the final days, to make my choice.

Not long ago I wrote a bit about the candidates and why or why not they were in my list of "possibles". At that time I had four candidates: Tancredo, Hunter, Romney and Thompson. Since that time Tancredo has dropped out of the race. Which is too bad but we saw it coming.

After much thought and research I have decided to caucus for...

What, you thought I would give it away?? Nope - you have to go read her yourself. And see the YouTube video. :)

This state's primary caucus system is unique -- CNN calls the rules "arcane" but to me it sounds a lot like the vote brokering that happens every day in Congress. Very interesting to read how the Democrats handle their evening caucus so differently from the Republicans...

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Essential Estrogen has a great local perspective on the 'courting' (or lack there of) of women in Iowa:

"Listen to the national media long enough and you'll soon be convinced that I'm one of the hottest commodities available in this presidential election. First, I'm a resident of Iowa. Second, I'm a woman. It is true that I was contacted by every Democratic campaign (and a couple of Republican ones as well) and asked to join their 'Women for ...' group. Over the summer, I spent hours in small meetings, visiting with leadership of said women's groups. Those who participated were told that the feedback garnered from those meetings was invaluable, that the views expressed by the women involved were going to be taken back to the top of the campaign and integrated into the messaging, plans and forthcoming white papers. Some of it was. Unless the other meetings held across the state of Iowa were drastically different from the ones I attended, very little of the substance of those meetings was converted to policy."

Also check out her scoop on some last minute tactics and campaigning by just about everyone.

A great read!

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

According to this blog, black and brown Iowans could be an important swing vote in the caucuses. But when you read a post such as "Caucusing Not Just for Caucasians" you get the impression that Iowans of color have been rpretty removed from the process. It would be interesting to find out whether this strategy for civic engagement has an impact on the turnout. It will also be interesting to see whether it swings votes for Obama, whom the blog endorses.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Check it out. They also promise live results tonight.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

As I type, it is 5:00 p.m. in Iowa, roughly an hour before most will head to their appointed caucus site.

A couple of more sites that might be of interest to those following along tonight...

www.iowacaucusresults.com -- this site, hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party, offers nearly real-time results as the precincts report.

The IDP also as a FAQ and more detailed caucus info available.

If my WiFi card plays nice, I hope to liveblog what happens at my individual caucus and there is a host of team coverage happening on Iowa Independent.

www.EssentialEstrogen.com - www.IowaIndependent.com - www.RHRealityCheck.org

I'm crossing my fingers your wifi cooperates! I can't wait!

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

The WiFi is working and you can get her updates
here.

So far I love the story about the Obama supporter at the door:

"An Obama supporter is standing at the main entry and asking everyone who comes in if they are 'fired up.' A few people, walking in from below zero wind chills, have given her a rather odd look, obviously unaware of the campaign slogan."

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Podcastmama is twittering from her caucus in Iowa.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

MOMocrats.com's very own Iowa mama Leah Klevar is live-blogging from her caucus site. Check it out here:

http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/01/live-from-the-i.html

GO EDWARDS!

Stefania Pomponi Butler

Loving the Twitters from :

http://twitter.com/IowaCaucus

The Land of Moo

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

I saw it on the chyron....

Huckabee got called EARLY. MSM calling Obama around 630pm pst.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

is saying "good for the people of Iowa" for voting for a black man....and I guess he has a point. Wow.

for Get Our the Vote power?

Obama focused on getting first time caucusers, and young voters out to vote, while Hillary focused on older women....hmmm. I haven't looked at the numbers enough- it's probably down the the power of Independents in deciding to side with Obama not Clinton.

I put my link in the link aggregator above.

I'm so happy my prediction was wrong! I believe Obama will be our next president.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

40% of women voted for Huckabee according to c-span! I'm a little stunned by this statistic! Only 24% of women voted for Romney.

Check it out!

http://tinyurl.com/2lbcb4

The Land of Moo

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

Both Edwards and Clinton are claiming that finishing behind Obama means that Iowa voted for change.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help